WASHINGTON - Weapons the U.S. military gave to Iraqi security forces have been used to commit violent crimes in Turkey, The New York Times reported Thursday.Pentagon officials said Wednesday that authorities in Turkey have recovered U.S.-supplied guns throughout the past year.It is unclear how many weapons have been found in the country. While some officials say dozens, others claim the numbers are in the hundreds.There are also different theories regarding how the guns turned up ... [full story]

KAYSERI, Turkey - Turkey’s national TV Channel 24 has agreed not to broadcast footage showing Israeli soccer fans singing incendiary songs about the Prophet Muhammad. The video was shot by Turkish reporter Elif Ural, who accompanied the Maccabi Tel Aviv soccer team on its flight from Israel to the Turkish town of Kayseri, where the team was to play Erciyesstor Thursday.Fans on the plane with the team were captured on tape singing unflattering songs about ... [full story]

"Gypsy-punk" and "trans-global rebel rock" sound like contrived marketing slogans, but they perfectly describe the uproarious musical collision that is Gogol Bordello.
GOGOL BORDELLO - Gogol Bordello leader Eugene Hutz adds a new twist to crowd-surfing at his band's concerts. CNS Photo courtesy of Michael Lavine. The members of this two-woman, six-man band hail from Ukraine, Russia, Ethiopia, Israel, Thailand, Scotland and California. The music they make mixes violins, guitars, accordions and heavily accented vocals with ... [full story]

WARSAW, Poland - Poland’s prosecutors office in Warsaw Thursday said former a interior minister and police chief were detained on suspicion of power abuse.Former Polish Interior Minister Janusz Kaczmarek and his former police chief Konrad Kornatowski along with Jaromir Netzel, head of the PZU insurance concern, were charged with obstruction in an anti-corruption investigation in the Polish Agriculture Ministry, Polish Radio reported.Polish Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski fired Kaczmarek Aug. 8 for his reported involvement in ... [full story]

WASHINGTON - A leaked U.S. Government Accountability Office draft report disputes recent White House claims of progress in Iraq, The Washington Post reported Thursday.The report, which the Post described as "strikingly negative," noted how Iraq has passed only three of 18 congressionally mandated benchmarks for political and military progress and how the number of attacks on Iraqi civilians hasn't changed.The draft also said it was unclear whether the Iraqi government will spend $10 billion in ... [full story]

Q: I am confused when I get to be big stack in a sit-n-go or final table. What is the best way to play a big stack?
Clueless
JARED HAMBY - After bursting onto the poker scene late last year, Jared Hamby has been a very successful online pro with cashes of more than $500,000 in tournaments. CNS Photo. Sheboygan, Wis.
A: A lot of people like to go crazy when they have a big stack, ... [full story]

TEHRAN - A senior Iranian official says the International Atomic Energy Agency has dismissed all unfounded U.S. allegations against Iran. Deputy Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council for International Affairs Mohammad Saeedi made his remarks as IAEA Director-General Mohamed ElBaradei presented a new report to the agency's board of governors Thursday, Iran's Islamic Republic News Agency reported. Although the 35-member board will consider the report at meetings beginning in Vienna on Sept. 10, the ... [full story]

RICHMOND, Va. - A state inquiry said the Virginia Tech massacre in April would have been smaller if the school had acted more quickly in warning students.A panel appointed by Virginia Gov. Timothy Kaine said information was withheld from students for two hours on April 16 about the killing of two students, time that could have been used to issue warnings and cancel classes, the Richmond (Va.) Times-Dispatch reported Thursday.The 260-page report said the university ... [full story]

CRYSTAL LAKE , Ill. - A Chicago area woman apparently suffocated her 7-year-old daughter then killed herself by stepping in front of a commuter train, the Chicago Tribune reported. Authorities said 28-year-old Magdalene Kamysz had become increasingly agitated because her daugther's father had started legal proceedings seeking visitation rights."It's been somewhat heated and contested," McHenry County, Ill., Sheriff Keith Nygren told the Tribune.Sydney Kamysz's body was discovered Tuesday at her family’s home when police arrived ... [full story]

Q: We are embarrassed because we have noticed that both our dog and our son have some similar bare spots. Our dog has some circular areas where his hair has fallen out, and our son has a spot on his head where he has lost some hair. All of the sores, the ones on the dog and the one our son, look very much alike.
Our dog sleeps in our son's bed and he is ... [full story]